Living Open Hearted Causes Life to Flow
John 15:5 – “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 7 – If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 9 – As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”
Life flows!
The more we embrace living open hearted with our hearts open to the flow of God’s love, the more God’s life flows through us.
Picture a Canadian maple tree tapped in spring. It can produce up to 12 liters a day! When you “tap into” Abba Father’s love,
you also will release a fruitful flow into everything you do. So how do we do this?
Awareness
Become aware of what’s in your heart. Notice the second part of this verse:
Matt.9:2-4 – Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?”
This is a picture of a judgment wall around the heart – the thing that keeps us from bearing fruit.
These teachers were not teachable.
Growth and forward movement were closed off to them because they had a wall up around their hearts that they were totally unaware of.
Learn the Skill of Living Open Hearted
Living in God’s rest (Heb.3-4) can seem ethereal, yet there is learned skill involved. It’s not just something you decide to step into – “I’m going to rest in God’s love.” Instead it’s more like a practice you learn to develop. And the key is to grow in your ability to recognize when you have put a wall up. As you do, don’t fight it. Bring the judgments that keep popping up in your thoughts to God and ask Him what they are about. These thoughts don’t live in a vacuum. They will be coming from some underlying root, some way you feel threatened or vulnerable or alone.
Finding these roots enables us to offer them to God and receive his love in deeper ways at a heart level, allowing us to live “tapped into Him” where we can bear much fruit and experience true life in the Vine.
Dear Robert,
I am glad to hear Cyndi is doing better.
All or your posts are always helpful. This one in particular ministered greatly to me. I have had to read it a few times to grasp all that is involved.
Thank you for your Spirit-led ministry to the body of Christ.
God bless you,
Uriel
The answer for me to the question of do I always look for intervention over taking steps of growth was convicting. As much as I am taking steps of growth I struggle when the growth does not come and then look for intervention. I also find myself wanting God to touch me at the altar and make my problem disappear even though I am taking steps myself when change I want to see in myself does not come.